British ‘stiff up lip’ leaves war veterans’ mental health overlooked

An Australian psychiatrist believes Britain’s
stiff upper lip culture, its class system and the NHS means we are
not supporting the mental health needs of war veterans
adequately.

Speaking today at the Royal College of
Psychiatrists’ Annual Meeting in Liverpool, Professor Alexander
McFarlane said Britain has a “peculiarly ambivalent” relationship
with its armed forces. As a result, he believes British war
veterans experiencing mental health problems are not supported as
well as they are in countries like the USA and Australia.

Professor McFarlane, who is professor of
psychiatry at the University of Adelaide and head of the Australian
Centre for Military and Veterans’ Health, claims there are a
significant number of British troops with post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD) who are not being treated. He cited a study
published in The Lancet in 2003 which said that deployment
in Iraq had not had any effect on British soldiers - apart from a
slight increase in physical symptoms. In contrast, a recent study
in the United States showed that 300,000 troops returning home has
symptoms of PTSD and 322,000 had mild traumatic brain injury
(MTBI).

Professor McFarlane said that soldiers tend to
have a ‘stiff upper lip’ and do not readily complain – but British
soldiers are just as vulnerable to PTSD as the military in other
countries. He also pointed out that Australia has a special system
of healthcare for veterans. The Australian government has recently
conducted a review of veteran mental health, and released an extra
AUS $80million for the welfare of veterans.

But Britain has no separate government
department dealing with the health of veterans, he said. Once
someone leaves the armed forces, it is assumed that the NHS will
treat any subsequent mental health problems. However, research has
shown that veterans who have post-traumatic stress disorder are
often missed in the civilian health sector because staff are not
adequately trained.

Professor McFarlane said: “When you have a
known infection like swine flu, there’s a major attempt to identify
those who are at risk. I would argue that people who have served
the nation have had a known toxic exposure and if we want people to
volunteer for those roles we have to care for them.

“There is a cost socially and morally if we
don’t take care of these people. One of the tests of a modern
society is how veterans are dealt with and managed.”

Professor McFarlane told conference delegates
that part of the blame lies in the UK’s history. In the past,
British officers were drawn from aristocracy – meaning they were
distanced from the suffering of their men.

He said: “The might of [Britain’s] empire was
built on the cost of the lives and the suffering of its military,
and historically it didn’t provide those veterans with healthcare
and pensions. But we live in a different age now and the question
is: Is the UK is trapped by its past?”